Ice-handling apparatus.



W. E. WILLIS. ICE HANDLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION r1150 DEC. 16. 1915.

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Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

W. E. WILLIS. ICE HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man 050. 16, 1915.

Patented M51 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS -SHEET 2- W. E. WILLIS.

ICE HANDLING APPARATUS.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED STATES Parana onrron WILLIAM E. WILLIS, F FAIRVIEW, OKLAHOMA.

ICE-HANDLING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed December 16, 1915. Serial No. 67,271.

I and useful Improvements in Ice-Handling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ice handling apparatus and has special reference to improvements in the apparatus disclosed in Patent No. 1,167 ,140 granted to me January 4, 1916.

One object of the present improvements is to simplify the means for reversing the direction of travel of the carrier; another object of the invention is to arrange the brakes in a more convenient manner; and a further object of the invention is to improve the construction of the escapement dog.

The invention also has for its object the provision of means whereby to prevent racing of the engine or of the other parts of the apparatus.

These stated objects and such other objects as will incidentally appear as the description of the invention proceeds, are at tained in the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the claims following the detail description.

In the annexed drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus embodying my present improvements;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section showing the operating gearing and the parts adjacent thereto;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the escapement dog;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the slidabl clutch member;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the governor;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the carrier.

The supporting frame consists of posts or standards 1 connected at their upper ends by transverse and longitudinal beams 2 and detachable doors 3 secured to the posts so as to be independently opened, all as set forth in my aforesaid patent. The driving shaft 4, in the present arrangement, is journaled in a fixed bearing in a rear longitudinal beam 2 and carries a gear wheel 5 upon its inner end which constantly meshes with oppositely disposed gear wheels 6 which are loosely mounted upon the drum shaft 7. Splined upon the drum shaft so as to slide longitudinally thereon but constrained to rotate therewith is a clutch sleeve 8 having tapered or conical clutch disks 9 at its ends adapted to fit into and frictionally engage conical recesses in thegear wheels 6 whereby, when either clutch disk 9 engages the respective gear wheel, said gear wheel will be locked to the shaft: and the shaft, consequently, rotated. It will be readily understood that, as the gear wheels 6 are oppositely disposed, the shaft will be rotated in one or the other direction accordingly as one or the other gear wheel is locked thereto so that, although both gears are constantly in mesh with the constantly rotating driving gear wheel 5, the direction of rotation of the drum shaft will be periodically reversed in order to cause travel of the carrier in the proper direction. Secured upon the drum shaft 7 are drums or windlasses 81 around which are wound cables 91 which depend from the drums and have their lower ends secured to a cross bar 10 forming a part of the carrier frame. Other cables 11 are secured to the drums and wound thereon reversely to the cables 91 and these cables 11 have counterweights 12 secured to their lower ends. The clutch sleeve 8 is pivotally connected to the inner end of a shifting arm 13 which is secured rigidly tothe inner side of the sliding bar 14 resting upon one of the front longitudinal beams 2. This sliding bar 14 has its ends fitted in and guided by loops 15 on the frame and pivotally mounted upon'the front side of the slide, at the center thereof, is the detent or escapement dog 16. This escapement dog,

standing arm or lug 17 at its center and at its ends is provided with teeth 18 which are adapted to ride upon the inclined plates or rests 19 and engage the lower ends of the same in the operation of the apparatus. Mounted upon the frame above this detent or escapement dog is a segment20 carried by a rock shaft 21 and provided at its ends with lateral pins 22 adapted to bear against the'upstanding arm 17 of the escapement dog; A weighted arm 23 is secured rigidly to the rock shaft 21 and projects radially therefrom beyond the segment, as clearly shown in Fig. 1., To the opposite ends of the segment, I secure the ends of a shifting .pawl or detent is provided with an upv cable 2t which have their end portions overlapping upon the grooved arcuate edge of the segment, as will be readily understood. The shifting cable 21 passes over the guide pulleys 25 on the frame at the upper and lower ends thereof and to an intermediate portion of the said cable, I secure adjustable stops or lugs 26 which are adapted to be engaged by an eye 27 on the carrier which fits around the cable between the lugs or stops. As the carrier approaches the limit of its movement in either direction, the eye 27 will engage one of the stops 26 and will thereby exert a pull upon the shifting cable which will throw the segment 20 over to a position the reverse of that previously occupied by it and the segment will act upon the escapement dog 16 so as to shift the same and the slide 14: in the manner fully described in my aforesaid patent.

In my present machine, the brake levers 28 are pivoted at their rear ends upon the rear longitudinal beam 2 and extend to the front of the machine but the brake shoes 29 are so disposed as to bear upon the end flange of the respectively adjacent Windlass or drum instead of against the side of the gear wheel. The brake controlling dogs 30 are pivotally mounted upon the inner side of the slide 14 to travel with the same and are equipped with weights at their inner ends and connected at their outer ends to controlling cables 31 as set forth in my hereinbefore mentioned patent. The springs which connect the lower ends of the cable 31 with the frame are under such tension as to normally hold the dogs in the position indicated by dotted lines at the left side of Fig. 1 and when the dogs are in this position they will pass under the brake levers as the slide reciprocates. If the tension of a controlling cable be reduced, as by manually pulling upward upon the cable, the weight on the inner end of that dog to which said cable is connected will cause said dog to turn on its pivotal connection with the slide 14 so that its outer end will project up into the horizontal plane of the adjacent brake lever. Then, when the slide moves toward said brake le-. ver, the outer raised end of the dog will impinge against the lever and swing it about its fulcrum so that the brake shoe carried by the lever will be pushed against the adjacent drum with sufficient force to arrest the operation of the apparatus.

The carrier consists of a platform constructed of longitudinal bars 32 and transverse bars 33 connecting the same at intervals and provided with a hinge plate 3 1 on one of the bars 33. A coacting hinge plate 35 is connected to the hinge plate 34 and has its ends secured to the vertical slides 36 which are adapted to engage the ways of the main frame. In the upper portion of these slides, side arms or standards 36 are slots 37 which receive bolts or pins 38 pivotally attaching a bail 39 to the links 10. The bail 39 is secured to thecross bar 10 and the links 40 are pivoted at their lower ends to the upturned end portions 11 of intermediate cross bars 33. Braces 42 are also provided to extend longitudinally of the platform and connect the upturned ends of these cross bars so that a firm support for the ice will be provided and the ice will be prevented from shifting laterally relative to the support. The links 40 are provided with a plurality of openings i3 near their upper ends in any one of which the pivots 38 may be engaged, thereby changing the inclination of the platform so that it may be set at any angle which may be best adapted for the proper and rapid handling of the particular ice which is being raised or lowered. If the ice should be smooth. a very slight inclination of the plat form will permit the rapid discharge of the ice, but if the ice should be rough, it will be necessary to give the platform a greater inclination. The pivots 38 will preferably engage slidably in the slots 37 so that when the carrier reaches the floor, it will assume a horizontal position whereby ice may be easily pushed or drawn onto it.

Secured to the frame, concentric with the driving shaft 4, is a rim 44c and secured to the shaft within the said rim is a disk or circular plate 45 having arms or levers 16 pivoted upon its outer face intermediate their ends. To the ends of the said levers, I secure spring bands or straps 47 each having one end secured to the outer end of a lever 46 and its opposite end secured to the inner end of the succeeding lever 46. Rigid with the pivots of the several levers are governor arms 48 which are equipped with weights 49 at their free ends and are normally retracted toward the driving shaft by springs 50 having their ends secured respectively to the disk 45 and the said arms.

The operation of my present apparatus is substantially the same as that of the mechanism disclosed in my previously mentioned patent. In the present instance, the escapement dog will ride over the stop plates 19 which are disposed preferably at an angle of about 30, so that the several parts may move smoothly and easily. The tooth at the end of the escapement' dog will drop into engagement with the lower end of the stop plate 19 and thereby prevent the reverse movement of the slide until the carrier reaches the limit of its travel and shifts the segment, as will be readily understood. The arm 13 will preferably be resilient so that the sleeve 8, when shifted, will be held toward the working gear 6 and the carrier positively driven. By making the counterbalances 12 somewhat heavier than the carrier, it will be possible to deliver the ice from the warehouse to a wagon without requiring any work of the engine. The Weights will automatically raise the carrier to the upper limit of its movement and, when the carrier has been loaded with ice, the weight of the ice will overcome the counterbalances so that the carrier with its load will descend. The travel of the carrier will be kept uniform by the action of the governor so that the racing of the carrier and consequent injury and damage to any of the parts will be prevented. Under normal conditions, the spring straps 47 will be out of engagement with the rim 4A but, when the speed becomes excessive, the tension of the springs 50 will be overcome by the centrifugal action of the weights s9 and the levers will be then swung about their several fulcrums so that the straps 47 will be expanded and will bind against the inner peripheral surface of the rim 44 and retard the movement. As the brake-controlling dogs are on the inner side of the shifting bar, they are not so apt to be damaged by chance blows and will not interfere with the movement of the escapement dog. Owing to the hinged connection between the platform of the carrier and the standards or side members of the same, and the slidable engagement of the pivots 38 with said standards, the ice may be very easily moved onto the same from the floor of a warehouse. When the plat-form strikes the floor the hinge plates 3i and will permit the bottom or platform of the carrier to swing toward'a horizontal plane and the pivots 38 will move down the slots 37. lVhen the cables 91 are again drawn upward, the pivots will ride up said slots and the carrier Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

will assume an inclined position, it being noted that the hinge 34, 35 and the guides 36 are at one side of the longitudinal centerof the carrier.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a supporting frame, a carrier movable vertically therein,

a shaft mounted in the frame and opera tively supporting the carrier, means for rotating said shaft alternately in opposite directions, inclined stop plates upon the frame, a slide mounted upon the frame above said plates, an escapement dog pivotally mounted upon the slide and provided at its ends with teeth adapted to engage the lower ends of the said stop plates, and means controlled by the carrier and acting upon the said dog to reverse the direction of rotation of the carrier supporting shaft.

2. The combination of a supporting frame, a carrier mounted to travel Within the frame, a slide mounted on the side of the frame, inclined rests on the frame below the slide, an escapement clog pivoted on the slide and having its ends disposed to ride on the respective rests and engage the lower ends of the same whereby to hold the slide against movement, means controlled by the slide for effecting the travel of the carrier, and means controlled by the carrier to release the dog and actuate the slide whereby to reverse the direction of travel of the carrier.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature.

WILLIAM E. WILLIS.

Washington, D. G. 

